1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the manufacture of cheese and particularly the efficient handling and processing of curd blocks through a brine bath and subsequent bagging and crating operations.
2. Prior Art
In the manufacture of Swiss cheese, milk is processed in batches to form curd that is separated from the remaining liquid or whey, compressed, and cut into large blocks. The blocks are placed in a brine solution where additional moisture is removed from the curd over a period of many hours by the brine solution. The blocks are then removed from the solution, crated, stored in stacks for aging, and shipped. Typically, this has been largely a manual operation requiring the lifting and handling of cheese blocks that weigh about 200 pounds. The heavy nature of the work has made if difficult to assign workers to some of the necessary tasks involved and has adversely affected employee morale because other tasks in the processing are more easily performed. The need for several workers to perform the handling operations and the limitations of the handling efficiency upon the production rate have resulted in a higher cost for processing the cheese than is desired.